Machine for surfacing, smoothing, and polishing floors and other like surfaces.



W. H. HAIGHT. MACHINEVFOR SURFACING, SMOOTHING, AND POLISHING FLOORS AND OTHER LIKE SURFACES.

APPLICATION FILED FEB. 17, I915.

'Patentmi Dec. 19, 1916.

l M v yes re-i W111", F "\TORTHFIELI), MINNESOTA. 1 "AGHIDTE Ft'll't SUE-FACING, SllIC'Gti'lFEING, AND IOLISHING FLOORS AND OTHER LIKE SURFACES.

lldfiil ti 5231 Specification of Letters Patent. P tgni igfi D 13'} 1 9113 Application filed February 1*, 1915.

To all whom may concern:

Be it known that .l', WILLIA citizen I of the United Stat iges dent of l lorthfield. county of Rice, f fifile lfiliil llhlllnfisot-a, have invented certain new and useful ln'iproveineuts in lKLiHl'IlIlDQS fOI Surfacing, Smoothing, and Polishing Floors and other like Surfaces. of which the following is a specification.

The ohjeet of the invention is to provide manually operated machine in which fric if H. HAIGHT,

tion of the ooeratino' )arts is reduced to a.

y. l l :3

nuninuiro the parts beingso assembled and adjusted with respect to one another that the power applied to the ahrading drum. is as direct as possible in a machine of this type.

The invention consists generally in various constructions and combinations, all as hereinafter described and particularly pointed out in the claims.

In the accompanying drawings forming part of this specification, Figure 'l is a side elevation. partially in section, of the machine embodying my invention, Fig. 2 is a plan view of the same, E ia". a modified form of the ah'rading roll. i

The frzu'ne of the machine. or its main support. which I will designate by reference 50 numeral 9. is made of comparatively thin metaL substantially lJ-slmped in form, bent at right angles atthe rear corners 3 and suitably reinforced. The shape and construetiou. of the 'aine will allow the ma chine to he opera'h l close to the'walls of the room. The forward portion of the frame is dm'mwardly turned, as indieated in Fig. l, and has bearings fora shaft 4 on which the abrading rolls a re secured. The ends of the shaft -l .fit within slots 6 prov iii in the frame 2, to allow the rolls to ride over high spots in the floor. The slots regulate the vertical inovei'nent oi the rolls atom ii. more toan gr vity is required to, hold the rolls in their workingposition, springs may be mounted on the rame in .m'mneetion with the roll-s1:pporting; shaft. A. small bearing); roll "2 is preferahly uiouutcd in the forward portion of the frame below the hearing of tie alu'adiiuz rolls. this-bearing roll 7 being fixed as to vertical movement in the frame. An ahrading roll. to erly. must hear equally and evenly ateaoh end. Flhould the power he applied at one. end only, the roll would bind and work no h inous of er 11:11 wei' ht,

act prop it will be noted that Serial No. 8,750.

evenly. or. if it operated at all, the workmanship would be io'iperfect. I .lf power should be applied at both ends, the drive mechanism would take up so muchspace that it would not be possible to run the machine close to the walls of the room and additional gearing would be required. I therefore divide the abrading roll transac in the center, making it in two secand apply the power directly to the center of the roll shaft, tl1ereliy distributing the application of power evenly to the-roll, simplifying the construction and permitting the device to he operated close tothe base boards. l'n carrying out this idea, I mount a pinion 8 on the shaft l between the roll sections 5 and meshing with a gear 9*, also mounted on a sleeve 9 carried by a shaft '10 having hearings in the side rails of the frame. The rear truck wheels 11 are mounted on a shaft 1:? that is mounted in hangers 13 pivoted at l l in the side rails of the frame and is adjustable by means of thumb screws 15 mounted in the rear portion of the frame and engaging, the rear ends of the hangers for the purpose of changing the position of the truck wheels with respect to the frame and. varying the friction of the abradiug drums. Handle bars 16 are pivoted at their lower ends to the shaft 10 and are secured in parallel relation with one. another by suitable braces and vertical adjustment of these handle bars is permitted lay means of curved bars 17 that are pivotally supported. on the rear portion of the frame and have notches 18 therein to eugag', cross rod 19 mounted in the bars 16. Side braces 20 are also provided, extending from the hers 16 tothe ends of the shaft 10 for the purposebf-hrncing the bars, distributing the. strain. on the shaft and strengthening: the machine. A hand grip ill is provided at the outer ends of the handle lHil'S.

It will be noted that the greaterweight of the machine is in front of therear s11 port ing wheels, thereby providing for sufficient hearing of the ahrading rolls on the floor, and when the frame audtlie handle bars areadjusted in their proper relative position and secured by the notched brace,.a slight bearing pressure on the hand grip 21 Will serve to regulate the dressing tension of the rolls. By bearing down on the handle bars,

the front of the machine may be raised and balanced on the rear wheels to permit its convenient movement from place to place. A frame 22 is adjustably mounted on the handle bars and has bearings for a shaft 23 therein that is provided with an operating crank 24 and with a comparatively large sprocket wheel 25. A belt 26 connects this sprocket wheel with a small wheel 27 on the shaft 28 that is journaled in the lower portion of the handle bars. This sprocket wheel 27 has a clutch connection 29 with a gear wheel 30 that is provided with a balance or fly wheel 31, said gear wheel 30 meshing with a gear 9 to drive the pinion 8 and the abrading rolls. When the crank is turned in the natural di rection, the final power applied to the abrading rolls will tend to lift them rather than press them down, thereby preventingits acting as a brake on the machine.

The smoothing rolls will generally be cushioned, as desired, and covered with a suitable abrading or smoothing material, such as sand paper, emery cloth, or polishing fabric, but in some instances, where the surface is very uneven or rough, it is desirable to provide a surface for the drum which will cut more readily than the sand paper. I have therefore shown in Fig. 3 the drums provided with a series of files or rasps 32, spirally applied to thedrums at suitable inter\als and made of comparatively thin material to fit the surface of the drums and havega-splid bearing thereon, the spaces betwceii'tl-i'efiles being adapted to re eeive the dust that is ground off in the operation and thereby prevent clogging, the dust working out at the ends of the rolls. These spiral plates may, if desired, be of uncut blanks and the sand paper or other smoothing material may be fastened to these blanks in any suitable manner.

To operate the device, the crank 24: is revolved, the power transmitted through the gearing to the drums, the ratio of the, gearing being such that the drums will be rapidly revolved with a comparatively *slow movement of the operating crank. The machine will be pushed over the floor, the abrading drums touching lightly thereon, or heavily as high spots are encountered, as the machine is moved along or stopped at will. The construction of the frame and the mounting of the abrading rolls close to the side rails of the machine allow the machine to be operated around the walls of the room close to the base board, while the center drive insures a maximum of power and its'even distribution and prevents any possibility of the rolls binding during the operation of the machine. Furthermore, comparatively short, independent rolls provide for a more uniform application of theroll surfaces to the floor and produce better results where the floor is uneven.

In various ways the details of construction herein shown and described may be modified and still be within the scope of my invention.

I claim as my invention:

1. A manually operated floor smoothing machine comprising a frame, rolls journaled therein having abrading surfaces, said rolls being of equal length and; weight and arranged end to end, means for applying driving power to said rolls between their abutting ends and midway between the outer ends thereof, means supporting the rear portion of said frame and handle bars for said frame, the outer ends of said abrading rolls being adjacent to the outer faces of the side rails of said frame, whereby said rolls may be operated on the floor close to the base board.

2. A manually operated floor smoothing machine comprising a frame, rectangular,

substantially, in form and a bearing roll mounted in the forward. portion of said frame, smoothing rolls journaled in said frame in the rear of said bearing roll, hangers pivoted on the side rails of said frame in the rear of said smoothing rolls, carrying wheels mounted in said hangers and means for raising or lowering said hangers independently of one another to adjust the bearlng of said smoothing rolls with respect to the floor surface.

3. A manually operated floor smoothing machine comprising a frame having side rails, a bearing roll mounted in the forward portion of said side rails, smoothing rolls journaled in the forward portion of said side rails in the rear of said bearing roll and adjacent thereto, hangers pivotally supported at their-forward ends in said side rails, carrying wheels mounted in said hangers, thumb screws mounted in the rear portion of said frame and engaging the rear ends of said hangers for vertical adjustment thereof to raise or lower said carrying wheels with respect to the floor surface.

4. A manually operated floor smoothing machine comprising a frame having a rear end rail and substantially parallel side rails secured thereto, a bearing wheel mounted in the forward portion of said side rails, a shaft loosely journaled in the forward portion of said side rails and having freedom of vertical movement in its hearings in said rails, smoothing rolls arranged end to end on said shaft with a space between them and of substantially the same length and diameter, a driving mechanism geared to the middle portion of said shaft between said smoothing rolls, and suitable carryin wheels supporting the rear portion of sai frame.

5. A manually operated floor smoothing carrying wheels and a forward bearing roll machine eompmsing a frame having side of said shaft, a pinion secured on said shaft, 8. A 11121211111 mounted in said frame, a shaft mounted from of said shefi, a 3'.) anion transversely in said frame in she rear of saici shaft. something;- rofis Ermine: heel-mg r011, smoothirfg rolls mounted end to on each. side of said 111 end on said shaft and haying their abutting the rear of sai nam ends spaced spare, a pinion secured on said mounted on se. mm shaft between said smoothing rolls, a second ried by saidl sees: :21 shaft journaled frame in the rear of said pinion, handle hers s2; said smoothing end secured to said sleeve, 2:, s n: saioi second shaft, M in said henciie bars and o said handle bars, and a driving connection nested with saiai gear, 2M1 a between said chivim and said second mounted in said handle boy-s shaft and said pinion, driving contoeotioxi M1511 6. A manueli operated. floor smoothing srmft'f; said gears and driviz ing centrally located. in en rails, e-shsfe journaieci in said side rails, a plying the ope??? Hm; 1 bearing r011 mounted in said rails in front smoothing roll 1 smooihing rolls mounted on said shaft on machine comprising; each side of said pinion, :1 second shaft in therein, abradin n the rear of said first named shaft, :2 gear sefaces of said 1 01;, cures? to said second shaft and meshing with length and weight said pinion, handle have mounted onsaici means for applying driv second shaft and straddling said gear, 21 rolls between their shaft mounted in said handle bars, a clutch Way between the eu'iez" end cog; gear wheel a: balance Wheel supporting; the rear thereon and meshing me-3h the gear of said and hzmdFe bets 1 second Shelia, a driving also journelec'i bars adjustable e 1 weight or m" in said handle bars near the upper end there fulcrum-ed relay-"m1 to the M of and haying an operating crank anti :1 machine ehsm ems {"G driving 'oeitconneci ion with seid handle bar will momentarily TBHGI: L shaft, and said gears and. driving eonnecabrafiing rolls 'Wichoufi tions being centrally located in said frame chine f0 applying the operating power central-1y In Witness WY er'eof toseid smoothing r011 shaft my hand this ti of Y A mnnlmliy operated "V001: smoothing WLWJLL F machme eommxsmg a frame imvmg slde Witnesses:

rails, a sham; jouz-nelefi in said side GENEVIEVE ,ISGRENQEI-IE rmls, a bearing roll mounted In said yells in E'nwme A, .REUL 

